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Monday, October 24, 2011

Apple Crumble Loaf

Now that autumn is here, apples are on sale all the time and you know what that means - it's time to bake some apple-y goodies. I've had this Apple Crumble Loaf from Sweet Twist of Blogging bookmarked for practically forever and now was definitely the time to make it.

This bread was different from other apple ones I've made before because it not only has streusel on top, but it also has a layer of it running through the middle. Plus, it also has the apples in layers rather than mixed throughout the loaf itself.

I did run into one problem while making these. The recipe says to use melted butter when making the streusel. Against my better judgment, I did so and ended up with streusel goop, not at all the "crumbly" texture I was going for. Now is it just me or does this happen to you too?

I didn't want to waste it after I'd made it, but I also still really wanted that crumbly look, at least on the top of my loaves. So, I made another half batch of the streusel using chilled butter, and voila! I think this is more what it was supposed to be like.

Now you put it all together - batter, apples, streusel, more batter, more apples, and more streusel. We're talking six layers of goodness here.

Into the oven they went and baked up beautifully.

Well, okay, there was one casualty. I may have put a little too much batter into one of the pans and it overflowed. No worries though, since I had put all the pans onto a cookie sheet. This just meant that I got to eat the scraps which is always a good thing.

For the streusel: Put all dry ingredients into a medium bowl. Cut in the butter until the mixture is crumbly.

Toss the apples with the cinnamon and sugar.

For the cake: Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl and stir together. Beat the eggs and whisk in the butter and milk. Add to the flour mixture and fold just till ingredients are moistened. Spoon half into prepared pan; spread to cover bottom. Sprinkle with half the apples, then top with half the streusel. Add remaining batter on top of the streusel and spread to cover. Sprinkle with the remaining apples, then the rest of the streusel. (Note: If you're doing this in mini loaf pans, use about 6 Tbsp. of batter + 1/3 c. apples + 1/4 c. streusel for each layer.)

Bake for 1 hour, or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 min. Run a knife around the sides; invert the loaf onto a rack and then revert side up. Let cool completely.